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Day 17: Thursday Island
October 8, 2005

The night before, we had gone ashore and had drinks at the local Pub on Horn Island. The crowd was a motley mix of locals - white Australians and black Torres Islanders. They had one thing in common though, they loved to drink and gamble. And as with most Australians we met, they all loved to tell us stories about crocodiles. From what I was told, there were plenty of crocs right around the bend - in the mangrove swamps near where we were anchored. Well, I was getting pretty frustrated taking pictures of warning signs, so I convinced the captain to take the dinghy into those swamps to see if we could actually see one for ourselves.

   Off in the distance, Makulu is the third boat from the left.
 
 
Left: Several lone mangrove trees grow near shore
Below: Rounding the corner into the river
 
 
 


Click to play video: Jim and Jeff search for Crocs

We paddled around for a good hour, but saw no sign of crocs. I learned from the locals later that the crocs remain submerged while waiting for their prey to swim by. Jim was dangling his foot in the water, but I guess it didn't look tasty enough.
   
 

 
 

A landscape both dangerous and beautiful. Who could ask for more.

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